What does social intelligence mean to you?
Social Listening is the art and science of understanding people through the digital footprint they leave on social platforms. It goes beyond just monitoring keywords or hashtags; it’s about analyzing conversations, sentiments, and behaviors to gain deep, actionable insights. For me, Social Listening is a lens into the collective consciousness of an audience. In essence, it bridges the gap between raw data and human intent, enabling us to build meaningful connections with audiences at scale. However! .. Social Listening has changed, and the industry has yet to catch-up - we are now a video-first community and it is critical that organization's address this aspect quickly before they lose touch with their online community.
What are you doing that no-one else is to drive the social intelligence industry forward?
I have spearheaded the development of groundbreaking technology that unboxes video insights at scale. Most existing platforms focus on text-based analysis, but we’ve solved the complex challenge of analyzing deep inside video content to extract rich, actionable insights. Our patented AI technology allows us to process everything an influencer has ever said across major platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, generating unprecedented transparency and trust in influencer marketing. By enabling Social Listening companies to integrate our API, we’re enhancing their capabilities and setting a new standard for the industry. This combination of innovation and collaboration ensures that we’re not just advancing our technology but uplifting the entire social intelligence ecosystem.
Have you got a favourite social intelligence use case or case study from the last year?
We worked with a global food brand recently and were able to provide a genuine ‘wow’ moment by demonstrating how they could use deep intelligence from video to uncover ‘never seen before’ insight into discussions around new flavors and ingredients. For food brands, identifying emerging flavor profiles and ingredients early is crucial to staying competitive.
Our research showed that new flavor trends often began as casual mentions in social video conversations or demonstrations, making them invisible to metadata-focused solutions, which led the brand to talking to our team at SocialVoice. Typical Product Development life-cycles take 2-3 years, and the food manufacturer was seeking to reduce this via earlier entry into R&D with new flavors and ingredients. This POC clearly demonstrated the power of social video intelligence, and highlighted to the customer the power of using the latest cutting edge social listening technology that we provide.
What’s the biggest challenge technology providers face in social intelligence?
The biggest challenge is scaling insights from complex, unstructured data (especially video) in a way that’s both accurate and actionable. Social platforms generate an overwhelming volume of content daily, and the diversity of formats - text, video, audio, and images, adds layers of complexity. Additionally, privacy concerns and evolving regulations require technology providers to innovate responsibly, balancing rich insights with ethical considerations. Lastly, staying ahead of the rapid pace of technological change while ensuring integrations with legacy systems poses a continual challenge for both providers of technology and consumers of social intelligence data in this space.
A common misconception is that social listening is all Twitter data, how are you overcoming this perception?
While Twitter remains a valuable source, the misconception that it’s the entirety of Social Listening undermines the richness of other platforms. We address this by focusing on multi-modal analysis, particularly video content, which is becoming the dominant form of online communication. Our technology integrates insights from a variety of platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, offering a more holistic view of social conversations. By demonstrating the depth and breadth of our analysis capabilities, we educate clients and the broader market on the untapped potential of analyzing diverse content types beyond traditional text-based data.
Let’s say you have a new client who is trying to take social listening more seriously, what advice would you give them? Where should they start?
Start by defining clear objectives for your Social Listening efforts. Are you looking to understand brand perception, identify trends, monitor competitors, or evaluate influencer partnerships? Next, choose the right tools that align with these goals. Ensure the platform you use can analyze the content formats and platforms most relevant to your audience, especially video, as it continues to dominate social media. Finally, invest in skilled analysts who can interpret data and translate it into actionable insights. Social Listening isn’t just about gathering data; it’s about understanding the human stories behind it. Starting small, measuring impact, and scaling strategically will ensure long-term success.
Generative AI has changed the way we think about our work. What's the next big thing to shake up the industry?
The next big disruption will likely come from the convergence of generative AI and augmented reality (AR). As lightweight AR devices become mainstream, “live social” channels will gain prominence, offering real-time, immersive experiences. These advancements will challenge Social Listening providers to analyze mixed-media content—blending text, video, and AR interactions—in real time. Additionally, the integration of generative AI with predictive analytics will allow brands to anticipate audience trends and behaviors, moving from reactive insights to proactive strategies. This shift will redefine the boundaries of what Social Listening can achieve.
What are you looking forward to in social listening for 2025?
By 2025, I’m excited to see how the industry embraces hyper-focused, real-time analysis of emerging content formats. These developments will challenge us to refine our technologies further, enabling deeper, more nuanced insights. Additionally, I’m looking forward to the continued evolution of influencer marketing, supported by our tools, as trust and transparency become the gold standard. Ultimately, 2025 holds the promise of Social Listening evolving into an even more vital tool for understanding human behavior and driving meaningful connections.
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